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Spooling steel.

OK so I have this job that requires some 6 inch schd 80 water pipes being welded in 2 1/2inch thick tanks (train tankers). So I was thinking, I have a spool mate, Why not put some .045 wire in it and run that around the pipes? It has a 25 foot lead, would be fast, no slag, only prob would be wind but I could throw a tarp over me. I hook this up to my Trailblazer so why not? Yes I know 6010,,,,,then 7018. But I am thinking 3 passes and again no slag.

Cause a spoolmate will bake itself to death, plus its not rated for 045 anyways. A 30A spoolgun will But on that thickness, Stick is the only way to go, as you won't get the penatration. If you attempted to mig it, you would need a written and signed procedure or you'll have a liability issue.

Well yeah it is rated for 200 amps but it is called a 30a. Cruizer how many procedures have you written? I said water, so what does that mean? It means water. I had it sniffed by a good fire department. I am not a total dumb ass, I have been through enough explosions to know better, ie Iraq IEDs. I just wanted to know about using my gun for a little job, thanks for the advice. Roger out.

11Lb., You have to understand that we run across a lot of guys doing dangerous things that think they know what they are doing when they don't have a clue.

Something to think about: What if they re-purpose this tank for something other than water, Its not common to use sch. 80 fittings and have a 1/2" wall tank for something as simple as a water hauler, so we have to be suspicious when we hear that its for water only.

Then you say the fire department sniffed the tank, Why do you need a water tank sniffed if that's the only thing that gets hauled in it.

That also leads us to believe that it might be for something other than water.

You also need to protect your self in case they re-purpose the tank and it leaks and leaves a trail of hazardous chemicals 500 miles long, the cost to clean a spill like that could be in the multi millions.

When it comes to welding on tanks you want to weld it like its going to have 3,000 psi in it and also treat it as if its had gasoline in it.

Actually, I've set up alot of machines and tooling for engineers to make procedures, including railway tankers. Since I have nothing to do with your idea, giver, however if the tanker is repurposed, and your welds leak, and happen to blow up a town. All inspections will come back to you, again is it worth it to save a little time? Sort of what I was getting at. Cover your azz and get your new procedure signed off by an engineer.

11Lb., You have to understand that we run across a lot of guys doing dangerous things that think they know what they are doing when they don't have a clue.

Something to think about: What if they re-purpose this tank for something other than water, Its not common to use sch. 80 fittings and have a 1/2" wall tank for something as simple as a water hauler, so we have to be suspicious when we hear that its for water only.

Then you say the fire department sniffed the tank, Why do you need a water tank sniffed if that's the only thing that gets hauled in it.

That also leads us to believe that it might be for something other than water.

You also need to protect your self in case they re-purpose the tank and it leaks and leaves a trail of hazardous chemicals 500 miles long, the cost to clean a spill like that could be in the multi millions.

When it comes to welding on tanks you want to weld it like its going to have 3,000 psi in it and also treat it as if its had gasoline in it.

Kind of related to what Portable was saying. Years ago, I did a lot of work for an excavation company, shortening and lengthening 18" H beams (with 1" flanges) for shoring. Sometimes I would only have to add on 6" or 12", the weld would be at the very end, little pressure on it. However, we never knew where these welds would end up two or three holes later, it might be in the middle (high pressure and stress), every one of them had to be welded correctly, full penetration. If somebody was down in the hole (they normally dropped a bobcat down with an operator for final clean-up) and my shoring braces gave way, even though it broke at a weld I did months or years ago, who do you think they would blame?

Also, railroads are like truckers, they absolutely hate empty backhauls. If for whatever reason, they are hauling water to a location, I doubt very much they are loading water and hauling it back from the same location. They will most likely find something else to put in it.

My feeling is, if you are incapable of running a 6010 pass, then wirebrushing, and running several 7018 passes on top, chipping and cleaning slag between each pass (like the procedure calls for), you are not qualified for this job.

I own and use a 30A spoolgun myself, the 30 simply refers to the length of the leads. I would be very dubious about it being able to put in an acceptable weld on sch. 80 pipe and 1/2" tank walls, without a bunch of cutting/veeing out and grinding, which would probably take more time than chipping slag.

Obviously, I'm just a hack-artist, you shouldn't be listening to anything I say .....

No I am not incapable of running a 6010 root, then a 6010 downhill hot pass, then a 7018 6 to 9 and a 6 to 3 cover(etc). I simply wanted a thought, i guess I got what I wanted. What you dont know, is the tanks are scrap railroad tanks to be buried at strategic locations for the fire department so they can have a water reservoir at their disposal possibly lowering the residents property taxes. Yeah I am not a typing type person, so I asked I thought a straight forward question. What I dont like is a condescending smart ass answer, like hire a fricken engineer, really, and engineer to weld a **** pipe to a tanker. If that is how it works no wonder our economy sucks and gas is 4.16 a gallon. Sorry gentleman but ****.
OBTW I am running 6010 and 7018 anyways cause the wind is blowing like crazy here in Alaska so moot point.